


strong on the surface, not all the way through

by voidstonem



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Donghyuck is beaten up, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mark plays basketball, Name-Calling, One Shot, a little fluff, donghyuck is a dancer, extremely brief mention of the possibility of rape, mark and donghyuck are whipped, mark has a bad temper, taeyong is mentioned briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-04 17:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15151682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidstonem/pseuds/voidstonem
Summary: Donghyuck is bullied for being openly gay.orDonghyuck takes a beating that should've been meant for Mark, and Mark is devastated.





	strong on the surface, not all the way through

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to, but here it is. As you can probably tell from my other works, I love to torture my biases. It's terrible. I know. Nonetheless, please leave me some comments. Comments boost my self-esteem.
> 
> I love you all :)
> 
> P.S. the title of this work was taken from the song Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park
> 
> Also, 'Jungsun' is just a random name I made up. He is not based off of any Korean idol or celebrity.

Donghyuck didn’t think he was in any danger.

He knew Mark had gotten into a fight at school the week before. Hurtful words were said, and Mark was the first to throw a punch. He’s always had a shitty temper. Donghyuck had talked to him about it before. They were working on it.

The fight was broken up pretty quickly, but the damage had already been done. Mark had given one of the school’s most notorious bullies a black eye. He knew Mark would have to face the consequences.

Donghyuck didn’t think he himself would be the one facing Mark’s consequences.

It happens as Donghyuck makes his way to his locker at the end of the school day. Mark had basketball practice, so Donghyuck wouldn’t be able to see him until later.

Donghyuck is almost at his locker when he is shoved roughly into an empty classroom. He winces as his back hits a desk and he falls to the floor heavily.

Before he’s able to figure out what the hell just happened, he feels himself being hoisted up roughly by his shoulders. His arms are being twisted painfully behind his back and when he looks up, he’s face to face with Kwon Jungsun.

He’s face to face with the boy Mark had punched the week before.

“What do you want from me?” Donghyuck whispers. He’s not an idiot. He can guess what’s about to happen. Jungsun is inches from his face, there’s another boy holding his arms behind his back, and a third boy is standing in the corner of the room with his eyes on the door.

Jungsun smirks sadistically.

“I know you’re Mark Lee’s slut. I know both of you are fags. And I know I need to make your worthless boyfriend pay for what he did,” spits Jungsun.

Donghyuck feels his heartbeat speed up because, fuck, he’s in deep shit. These three boys had clearly been following him. They’d clearly planned this whole thing.

Donghyuck knew this was not going to be pleasant for him, and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

“Please don’t do this,” all Donghyuck could do was try do talk himself out of this mess.

Jungsun nodded at the boy standing by the door. The boy had pulled his phone out and pointed the camera toward Jungsun and Donghyuck. He was going to film the whole thing.

“Donghyuck, you’re a big boy. Surely you can take a beating,” taunts Jungsun.

That’s the thing, though. Donghyuck is a skinny, defenseless boy who spends most of his time in the dance studio. If there’s anyone who can’t take a beating, it’s Donghyuck. If he gets hurt, he won’t be able to dance. If he can’t dance, he’ll go insane.

“Please let me go. I’ll talk to Mark. He’ll apologize,” begs Donghyuck.

Jungsun only chuckles.

“I don’t want an apology. I want revenge.”

Donghyuck kicks his legs and squirms relentlessly as he tries to escape his captor’s clutches. This seems to only anger Jungsun. Donghyuck’s attacker lurches forward and buries a fist into Donghyuck’s gut. The smaller boy doubles over and lets out a low groan of agony.

He’s felt pain before, but never like this. He’s felt the stinging burn in his aching muscles after a long day of dance practice. He’s felt the arduous pounding of a migraine forming in his skull after a sleepless night spent perfecting near-impossible choreography.

This pain was different. It was sharp and nauseating and left Donghyuck gasping for breath.

Before Donghyuck can get used to the pain radiating through his stomach, Jungsun strikes him again. This time, Jungsun’s solid fist is aimed further upward. It collides forcefully with Donghyuck’s solar plexus, and Donghyuck sees dark spots dancing in his vision. He gasps and splutters and nearly gags as he feels tears begin to well up in his eyes. 

Jungsun knees him in the groin, and Donghyuck tries to distract himself from the pain by thinking of Mark. Mark is going to flip shit when he finds out he’s the reason Donhyuck is being mutilated. Mark has always been overly protective of his boyfriend. In hindsight, Mark probably should have suspected something like this would happen after he pissed a douchebag like Jungsun off. Donghyuck himself doesn’t blame Mark. He knows Mark would take a bullet for him any day.

Donghyuck feels Jungsun kick him in the ribs before delivering a punch to his jaw. The pain is excruciatingly intense, but Donghyuck doesn’t make another sound. He knows Mark will take care of him later. He knows Mark will be there for him.

Donghyuck decides to succumb to the pain he’s feeling all over his body. He exhales deeply as Jungsun launches another hit at his stomach. When he lets go, he thinks about how he’s actually glad he’s the one being bruised. Mark wouldn’t be able to play basketball if he was hurt. Basketball acted as a form of escape for Mark, the same thing dance acted as for Donghyuck. Donghyuck could take a break from dancing. He could do anything as long as he had Mark by his side.

Donghyuck thinks fondly of his boyfriend as he blacks out.

~

When he comes to, he’s instantly overcome with relief. His surroundings are familiar. There’s an acoustic guitar propped up against the wall in the corner of the room and a tan, oversized sweater draped across the desk chair opposite the mini fridge. Donghyuck knows the mini fridge is filled with cartons of banana milk because that’s Mark’s favorite. He feels safe in Mark’s bedroom. Despite feeling achy and slightly light-headed, Donghyuck feels safe. 

He suddenly realizes he’s laying in Mark’s bed and blushes. Donghyuck sits up slowly and flinches when he feels his blackened stomach arch with the movement. 

“I’m so sorry, Donghyuck-ah.”

Donghyuck hadn’t realized that Mark was sitting right next to him.

“It’s okay,” mutters Donghyuck. His voice is weak and laced with discomfort.

Mark’s face is white as snow and there are visible tears running down his cheeks. 

“I was so scared when Jungsun sent me the video.”

Ah, the video. Donghyuck had forgotten about the camera. He suddenly felt an influx of fear in his stomach. What had happened after he blacked out? Did they…

“Hyung,” Donghyuck whimpers, “After I passed out, they didn’t...did they do anything else?”

Mark’s eyes widen in understanding and Donghyuck feels like he might throw up.

“No. No, nothing like that. Fuck, I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t be thinking like that. This is all my fault. They could’ve done so much more to you and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything,” Mark is sobbing now.

“Hyung,” Donghyuck is relieved, “I’ll be fine. It’s just some bruising. It’s nothing. It could be much worse,” he whispers.

Mark nods sadly because, fuck, this really is all his fault. He never should’ve gotten into a fight with Jungsun. But Jungsun was saying things in the cafeteria about Donghyuck and Mark couldn’t bear to hear someone speak such horrible lies about his boyfriend.

”I already told Taeyong. I showed him the video, too. His dad’s taking care of it,” says Mark between stifled sobs.

Donghyuck remembers Taeyong. Taeyong is one of Mark’s buddies from the basketball team. More importantly, his dad’s a cop. Jungsun shouldn’t be bothering Donghyuck or Mark again. He’ll probably be expelled, anyway.

Mark curls up next to Donghyuck in bed, and the two of them lay there for a while. Mark continues to cry, and Donghyuck tries his best to calm him down. People get beaten up all the time. It was bound to happen at some point, Donghyuck thinks, especially since he and Mark are so open about their relationship. Of course someone was going to harass them. 

As Donghyuck drifts off to sleep, he thinks about a world where people aren’t tormented for who they love. Perhaps he and Mark will be able to live in a world like that one day.

~ 

Over the next few days, Mark doesn’t leave Donghyuck’s side. Now, they’re sitting in Mark’s living room watching Netflix and sharing a tub of chocolate ice cream. Mark’s practically feeding Donghyuck, and when he’s not, he’s holding an ice pack against Donghyuck’s busted lip. Mark has a bottle of painkillers on hand because Donghyuck’s stomach is still brutally sore, and Mark has vowed to never let his boyfriend feel helpless again. No one will lay a hand on Lee Donghyuck ever again. At least, not while Mark’s around.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! It really means a lot to me. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any requests or just want to talk about NCT haha. 
> 
> <3


End file.
